Platen for printing machines and the like



1949. M. (3. STEWART 2,479,521

PLATEN FOR PRINTING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 25, 1944 gsmm 2728 j k 39 fia a 0 Jul/21 INVENTOR.

1 %mao Patented A... is, 1949 2,479,521

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PLATEN FOB PRINTING MACHINES AND THE LIKEMerritt G. Stewart, Chicago, lll., assignor to Victor Adding Machine00., Chlcagmlll a corporation of Illinois I Application September 25,1944, Serial No. 555,714

1 Claim. (Cl. 101-28) 2 Myinvention relates broadly to platens used inmg drawing, and while I shall proceed to deprinting machines, such ascheckwriters, and scribe the same in detail it will be understood morespecifically relates to platens used in conthat the invention, in itsbroader aspect, is not I nection with printing machines having type withlimited to the structural details shown further scarifyin ty faces, 5than is required by the terms of the appended Heretofore, it has beencustomary in printing claim. 7 machines, such as checkwrit'ers, toemploy type Still further objects and advantages, in addifaces havingprojections relatively spaced to regtion to those already poin ed Ouwill be @9- ister with complementary grooves or depressions parent asthe descrip n pr eeds in connecin a metal platen, for marking checks,bonds or tion with the accomp y drawing in which! other commercialpapers with an inked impresg- 1 18 a Perspective w 0! e form 0 a e slonof th value thereof,- or th in l la, so as and hair retainer which maybe employed in the to scarlfy or disrupt the fibers of the paper overmanufacture of my impr plate!!- the area to which the ink is applied,whereupon Fig. 2 is a face view of the assembled platen the paper willbecome impregnated with the ink 5' which forms the subjec ma f the P nand thus indelibly marked with the desired ininvention.

scription. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of Fig. 2.

While this type of platen is satisfactory in many Fig. 4 is a verticalcross-section of the platen respects it has several disadvantages. Forextaken on a plane corresponding to the line 4-4 ample, such a platen iscostly to manufacture, and of Fig. 2. unlws accurate alignment ismaintained between Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view iltheplaten and the scarifying type faces of the lustrating the preferredmethod of finishing the type, damage to the platen and/or type willoccur. platen type-striking surface.

Another form of platen which has been exten- Fig. 6 is a face viewsimilar to Fig. 2 but showsively used in the past for checkwritingmachines 5 ing a. modified platen frame where two spaced employing typewith scarifying type faces are apart parallel type-striking surfaces aredesired. platens having rubber, or a like resilient surface, Fig, 7 i anend elevation of Fig which is pierced by the type face projections. 1; 31 a highly magnified fragm ntar View While platens of this type are chap o menuclearly illustrating the manner in which the scari- 'ae 'e athe metal p they e a relafying type faces pierce the inking ribbon andtive y short l due to t c t inuous paper and spread the tightly packedhairs of the piercing of its surface by the scarifying type faces platensurface, and,

has a tendency to cause such surface to become Figs. 9 and 10 are frontand side views respecworn and pitted. end t e qua y of the Printingtively of a. portion of one form of scarifying type becomes greatlyimpaired. which may be used in connection with my im- It is the broadpurpose of my invention to obproved platen.

viate the foregoin objections found in pre ent In the embodiment of myinvention as shown in day platens, for printing machines, by provid-Fig. 2, my improved platen is designated, in its ing a platen which issimple in construction, effientirety, by the reference character A andcomcient in operation, economical to manufacture, prises a body portionB rigidly supported withsubstantially indestructible, and one which willin a. frame 0.

greatly improvethe quality of printing. 1 One convenient form in whichthe frame may The invention had its conception in connection be made isshown in Fig. 1 as comprising two with a checkwriting machine employingtype havelongated U-shaped metal parts II and i2, each ing scarifyingtype faces; but, as will be evident of which have their free endsreduced in width from the present disclosure, it is not limitedtothis toform ears I 3. Part Ii has an end plate ll particular kind of printingmachine. 1 rigidly secured thereto, as by spot welding shown Morelimitedly, it is an object of my invention at l5, and this plate isprovided with slots I to provide a platen for printing machines, thedimensioned to receive the ears l3 of part l2. type striking portion ofwhich, is composed of One branch of part II has a wall I! formedintightly packed hairs which may be readily fabritegrally therewith, andbent at a right angle cated into a compact and sturdy sturctureposthereto, which wall serves as a seat or support sessing the featureshereinbefore pointed out. for the body 13 in a manner presentlydescribed.

My invention, embodied in a platen for print- Part I! also has an endplate ll secured thereing machines, is illustrated in the accompanysoto, preferably by spot welding shown at It, and

slots 20 in said plate and end wall are dimensioned to receive the earsI! of part lil when the frame C is assembled.

Referring now to body B, I propose the use of tightly packed hairs,designated 2|, which are clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 8. The hairs 2|are preferably of a length greater than the width of parts II and i2, asshown at the left hand side of Fig. 5, and while being held in packedrelation, are inserted within the parts II and I2 of frame C and againstthe seat l1. While the hairs are being held in this manner, parts II andI2 are moved towards each other until the ears l3 of part l2 pass into'the slots I6 in plate II, and the ears I! of part II pass into the slots20 of part l2 and plate l8, at which time the ears are bent over asshown in Figs. 2 and 8. Thus the frame C tightly embraces the body B ofhairs 2| with.one end of each individual hair 2| resting upon the seatI! and its other end protruding above the upper edges 22 of parts H andI2 as best shown in Fig. 5.'

The next step involved in the formation of the platen shown in Fig. 2 isto trim the exposed ends of hairs 2| closely to the upper edges 22 of.frame C in any suitable manner, as for example by a cutting element suchas the knife 23. I have found that after this trimming operation of thehairs 2 a good type-striking surface is obtained, but if a hardersurface is desired, the ends of hairs 2| may be ground substantiallyflush with said upper edges 22 of frame C by an abrasive wheel shown at24.

With the foregoing in mind attention is now directed to the highlymagnified view shown in Fig. 8, and to Figs. 9 and 10 which illustrate afragmentary portion of conventional type 25 ing from the morefundamental principles of the having scarifying type faces 26. Thesetype faces usually include pyramidal or needle-like projections 27,which during a printing operation, pierce the inking ribbon, shown at28, and

the check or paper 29 being printed upon, and backed up by the bodyportion B of the platen A.

It will be clear from Fig. 8, that when the pointed projections 21 passthrough the ribbons 28 and paper 29 to engage the platen surface, theexposed ends of hairs 2| will be slightly parted, as shown, and whensuch projections are removed, from the platen body B, the hairs .21 willsnap back to their normal position. It follows therefore, that as theprojections 21 of type 25 pierce the platen, its surface will not beexceedingly worn or pitted due to the yielding action of hairs 2|, inthe manner just described.

The modified platen shown in Fig. 6 is formed in substantially the samemanner as that described in connection with Fig. 2, and therefore adetailed description is deemed unnecessary. Suffice it to say that inthis form the platen has a double surface designated D and E forpurposes well known to those skilled in the art of checkwriting and likeprinting machines.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my inventionit will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerousmodifications and variations may be made in the form and constructionthereof, without departinvention. I therefore desire, by the followingclaim, to include within the scope of my invention all such similar andmodified forms of the apparatus disclosed, by which substantially theresults of the invention may be obtained by substantially the same orequivalent means.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

In combination in a printing machine, type having scarifylng faces, anda platen for backing up printing-receiving material and providing asuitable type-striking surface for the scarifying faces of typcomprising a plurality of hairs disposed in parallel relationship withthe ends thereof in a plane to form said type-striking surface, and aframe surrounding saidhairs and holding them in tightly packedcondition, an edge of said frame being disposed substantially in theplane of said type-striking surface to insure the surface forming endsof said hairs being maintained in the desired tightly packed conditionby preventing spreading of said hairs beyond the confines of said frame.

MERRITT G. STEWART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 30,353 Ruegg Oct. 9, 1860 137,721Reese Apr. 8, 1873 157,104 Pickering Nov. 24, 1874 226,962 Berger Apr.27, 1880 v385,217 Thompson June 26, 1888 407,608 Partridge July 23, 1889441,057 Coggeshall Nov. 18, 1890 522,567 Winkel July 3, 1894 536,295Raby Mar. 26, 1895 634,138 Harper Oct. 3, 1899 845,495 Whitehead Feb.26, 1907 1,174,642 Welter Mar. 7, 1916 1,363,897 Morgans Dec. 28, 19201,412,653 Boyett Apr. 11, 1922 1,527,853 Ferdon Feb. 24, 1925 1,815,076Severy July 21, 1931 1,987,987 Bohmbach Jan. 15, 1935 2,284,528Malmquist May 26, 1942 Maeser Aug. 3, 1943

